The Big Red Songbook (songs of the IWW on sale)

http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/feeney201007.html

by Anne Feeney

The 2007 publication of The Big Red Songbook is long overdue. Folklorist Archie Green has been in possession of 29 editions of the legendary Little Red Songbook of the IWW since Wobbly folklorist John Neuhaus entrusted them to him in 1958. Published between 1909 and 1956, the IWW songbooks in the Neuhaus collection vividly embody the humor, philosophy and history of the working class. Millions of copies of these little songbooks have been sold, giving the IWW its well-deserved reputation as a "singing union." For those of you saying "IWWWhat?" -- here's a little history.



Few chapters of American labor history are as exciting as the story of the IWW -- the Industrial Workers of the World. The Industrial Workers of the World, also known as "the Wobblies," proclaimed in their preamble: "The working class and the employing class have nothing in common. There can be no peace so long as hunger and want are found among millions of the working people and the few, who make up the employing class, have all the good things of life." They urged all workers, regardless of race, gender, trade, or immigration status, to join in one big union to abolish "wage slavery" and create a "workers' commonwealth." Since its founding convention in 1905, the Wobblies have fascinated and inspired generations of workers, scholars, and labor enthusiasts.

The IWW organized and welcomed workers that the craft-bound AFL shunned: unskilled, seasonal, and temporary workers, young girls in the textile mills, immigrants, African Americans, and Chinese. The IWW was more radical than the CIO (formed 30 years later.) From its inception, the IWW scorned collective bargaining agreements and believed solely in direct action -- shop floor actions, wildcat strikes, slowdowns, walkouts, and occasionally sabotage. The IWW reviled the wealthy, lampooned politicians, skewered union bureaucrats, and held a special place of ridicule for "Mr. Block" -- the kind of worker who believes everything the boss tells him: that hard work will make him rich, that politicians and bosses care for the interests of workers.

From the beginning, the Wobblies were loved by many for the great humor and irreverence in their songs and artwork -- and despised (and feared) by bosses and politicians, and even by the mainstream labor movement. The IWW had some glorious victories, most notably the Lawrence, Massachusetts "Bread and Roses" strike, and some spectacular defeats, like the Paterson, New Jersey Silk Strike. Wobblies were staunch defenders of civil rights -- especially free speech and freedom of assembly. They rode the rails and converged on towns like Spokane, Washington to proclaim and demand workers' rights. There would be mass arrests and the IWW would fill the jails during their "free speech" campaigns. IWW offices were raided and burned, their leaders were jailed, deported, or even murdered . There are many poems and songs about Wesley Everest, Frank Little, and the most famous Wobbly martyr of all -- Joe Hill. Some of the IWW's earliest songs are still sung today, including labor's anthem, "Solidarity Forever," written by Wobbly Ralph Chaplin. This space does not permit telling the whole story of this colorful union, but the IWW still exists today despite decades of persecution. Today the IWW is organizing Starbucks workers, among others. Their website is www.iww.org.

The Big Red Songbook is 538 pages long, and contains over 250 IWW songs and many wonderful IWW poems, cartoons, and graphics. It's clearly not intended to be read in one sitting. Unfortunately, the songs do not have music with them. Some are parodies, written to tunes still remembered ("My Country 'Tis of Thee," "What a Friend We Have in Jesus," "In the Sweet Bye-and-Bye," "Oh Christmas Tree"). The majority of the songs are to original melodies, or parodies of long-forgotten tunes. There is an extensive discography at the end of the book for those who want to hear the songs.

FULL story at link.

was a big deal around here. Over 1000 Wobblies were marched out and put on trains and sent to N. Mex boondocks. They had been on strike and that didn't go over well with the mine owners (Phelps/Dodge)